Special Projects Groundwater UpdateBio-diversity Offsetting Public Information Session January 27, 2016

Outline Introduction Data Gaps – 12 Mile Creek Ontario Geological Survey Study Niagara WaterSmart Bedrock Aquifer

Study Future Opportunities

Special Projects SupervisorJayme Campbell, P.Eng.

Source Water Protection Technical Studies Lead

Highly Vulnerable Aquifer/ Groundwater Review

Groundwater information mapping and collection

Twelve Mile Creek cold water system

Bedrock groundwater: flow from the

south outside of creek catchment

discharge close to 50% of summer baseflow

Does Lake Erie supply Twelve Mile Creek?

Lake Erie

Can Lake Erie flow to 12 Mile?

Can Lake Erie flow to 12 Mile?

Ontario GeologicalSurvey 3-D Sediment Study

Plot borehole traces

Add picks

Create 3-D wireframe surfaces

Fill spaces with blocks

Regional Bedrock Aquifer Studies

Groundwater elevations show a decreasing trend from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario

5 m water level recharge rise at Fonthill

Wetland Hydrology (Wetlands, Mitsch and Gosselink, 2007)The hydroperiod, or hydrologic signature of a wetland, is the result of the: Balance between inflows and outflows Basin geomorphology Subsurface conditions

The hydroperiod can have dramatic seasonal and year-to-year variations, yet it remains the major determinant of wetland processes.

Hydroperiod Examples

Many swamps in cold climates have distinct periods of surface

flooding in spring due to snow/ice followed by spring

floods with a water table that can be a meter or more below

the surface

Interior wetland water levels vary depending on climate variability. Wetlands affected by groundwater have less seasonally variable water levels.

Wetlands and groundwaterMarsh as a depression receiving groundwater

Groundwater spring/ seep / slope wetland

Floodplain wetland fed by groundwater

Marsh recharge wetland

Surface water depression

Wetland Water BudgetDominated by surface runoff and precipitation with little groundwater outflow due to low permeability soils (Golet at al, 1993)

Hydrology Instruments for a Wetland Water Budget

Promising Hydroperiod Monitoring with Existing Groundwater Monitors

Provincially Significant Wetland Complex

Public Land

12 Mile Creek St. John’s Conservation AreaWilloughby Marsh Conservation AreaBeaver Creek Fort Erie

Town of Fort Erie

Lower Grassy Brook City of Niagara Falls – Baden Powell Park

Highway 20 and 24 Gainsborough Conservation AreaOswego Creek Hedley Forest Conservation Area

Questions?

Thank you